Brazilian Ambassador to Vietnam João De Mendonca Lima Neto was granted a “For peace and friendship between nations” insignia for his contributions to the Vietnam-Brazil friendship and cooperation on Dec. 14 in Hanoi .

The insignia was awarded by Vice President of Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Nguyen Van Kien.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice President Kien said that during the ambassador’s working term, two-way trade has developed remarkably, from 556 million USD in 2008 to approximately 1 billion USD in 2011.

The ambassador has supported the two countries’ business relations and prompted the Brazilian Government to support Vietnam in multilateral forums.

He has paid due attention to Vietnam’s people-to-people diplomacy, creating good conditions to strengthen the two countries’ delegation exchanges and mutual understanding, as well as relations with the Vietnam-Brazil Friendship and Cooperation Association and other organisations in Vietnam.

Receiving the prestigious award, the Brazilian Ambassador said he will continue to work towards developing friendly and cooperative relations between Vietnam and Brazil. /.